Life After This
by Maddie McDaniel
Summary: When Tracey wakes from her long slumber she finds clarity and attempts to rehabilitate herself but, will someone step in her way? Rated M for language, mild drug references, and brief adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

Watching Evie walk out of my life that day might have been the saddest and scariest thing I've ever experienced. Now I had to live in the consequences of my actions with no one there to support me that would actually understand. While laying with my mom for all of that time, I was able to think about everything and regain a bit of clarity. I didn't regret anything I did with Evie. It could have been worse right? I mean, what would have happened if no one ever caught on to what we were doing and I got even more wrapped up in the turmoil?

Owning up to everything was more painful than anything I ever had to do. Having to tell my mom everything versus going to juvenile hall for possession, stealing, and who knows what else, was not too bad. Having to go back to school was difficult, I just wanted to drop out right then. Knowing that I was going to fail the seventh grade killed me inside because I wasn't that person. Because I had hung out with Evie so much, people thought that after she left, that I would still be like her. Selling shit in the park and on the streets on Saturday nights was the worst because if I just wanted to go out shopping, I would be approached with a bit of money stashed in some guys hand while he expected something in return, something that I did not have.

This went on for the remainder of my seventh grade year. The depression got to me so much that I didn't go to school most days. On the days that I did, most of the time was spent in the counseling office with some woman that claimed to understand what I was going through, though she and I both knew that she didn't! My mom tried so hard to help but because I was still so out of it, my outbursts became too much for her. I spent a lot of time with Mason, he helped me try to get my head back on straight. Occasionally, he and I would share a bowl just to calm me down. Mostly on the days that I went to school because I had to deal with Evie crap all of the time. Even though she was gone, her spirit seemed to linger in the hallways. Everyone always asked me when she was coming back and my answer was always the same, "I don't fucking know and I don't fucking care!"

Living this life was getting to me, I needed a change and I needed it fast.


	2. Saying Goodbye

That summer I received the opportunity to go to a teen rehab facility in Colorado. The fee had been waived by my middle school as a gift for all of my struggles. My mom was reluctant to allow me to go, in fear that I would fall into my old ways like when I was with Evie. Talking her into allowing me to go to this program was no easy task. Mason helped me talk her into it; he told her about our long talks and how I really wanted to change. I had to explain to my mom just how difficult it was for me to walk out of the front door, much less to go to school every day.

Reluctantly, she agreed to let me go to the program and upon my return, I would change schools in attempts of a fresh start. Mason and I spent as much time together as we possibly could before I went away. Despite our differences, he and I found so much more that we had in common that we never knew before. Mason was lost when Luke moved away and I was lost as well when Evie turned her back on me, so it worked out for me and my brother. Don't get me wrong, we still had our days where we wanted to kill each other but we'd sit each other down, smoke a bowl, and then talk it out.

The fact that Mason and I could communicate so well made the road to recovery so much easier but I knew that not being able to talk with him while I was in the recovery program would be really hard. I would miss my brother but I needed this and he knew it. So we did everything we could together up until the day before I left. He taught me how to surf on the weekends and during the week we would help each other with homework, even though I had no chance of passing the seventh grade, I felt like I had to make some sort of effort. Even if I learned the stuff it would make the repeating of the seventh grade a bit easier.

School was coming to a close and I left for the program in a week. Mason was acting kind of funny, probably because he didn't want me to be leaving. The person that was bugging me the most though was my mom. She had barely spoken to me since I had accepted the slot in the program; it was almost like she didn't want me to get better. I had been doing better though; I quit smoking cigarettes and doing cocaine but I couldn't get myself off of the weed or sex. I only smoked weed with Mason or Javi. I only smoked with Javi when we had sex. I just couldn't get enough of that boy. I hadn't even told him about the program though; he'd probably tell me that I didn't need to go, that I was just fine and didn't need any rehabilitation.

I had arranged to meet up with Javi one night a few days before I was to leave. I had worked out exactly what I was going to say to him but I was still so worried what his reaction would be. I walked up to the ice cream shop and snagged a quick kiss from my man as I sat down, deciding that starting right away was the only way to go. I began quietly, "Javi I have to talk to you about something, and I don't want you to say anything until I'm through with everything I have to say." He agreed worriedly and held my hands as I spoke. "Javi, I'm leaving in a few days for a teen rehabilitation program in Colorado. I will be gone for six weeks. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner but I didn't want you to be mad and I didn't want to just leave you without telling you where I had gone either. The program is six weeks long and is designed just for teenagers that have fallen into the peer pressures that I ended up in while I was hanging out with Evie. Now I know that you and Evie were pretty tight and I'm sure that you miss her a lot. I miss her too but I really feel like I need to do this for me and I really hope you can support me on this." Javi looked at me with his beautiful puppy dog eyes and said, "Tracey, I want nothing but what's best for you. If you think that going to this program is going to help you then I'm 110% behind you the whole way. I love you Tracey." We shared a deep passionate kiss and a hot fudge sundae before we parted ways for the last time before I left.

Javi loved me? It made me wonder if I loved him too. I mean how do you know if you love someone right? He didn't seem distraught by the fact that I had neglected to say it back. Javi was older than me though; he had a more matured mind set so maybe after this rehab journey I would know more about what I wanted for myself.

So for the last few days before I started my new life, I forced my mom to spend time with me; helping me pack, deciding what to bring and what not to bring, etc. She wasn't too talkative through this time until I finally said to her, "Mom why won't you hardly even talk to me?" Thinking I wasn't going to get an answer I went back to the packing, but not before I heard her actually answer me. "Tracey, I love you, you and Mason are everything to me but I'm just so worried about you. I fear that you'll meet someone in that program and you'll go right back into how you were before. Or you'll get through it and be successful until you come home and fall right back into the hold habits." Furiously I replied, "Mom I want nothing more than to be cured from all of this. This isn't who I am but I need help to get back to myself again. Working at it on my own isn't getting me too far. I need to get away for a while to figure all of this stuff out. I promise you that I won't do any of those things you worry for. I just need to do this to get back to me." Ending on that note, my mom walked out of the room nearly in tears. Later I found out that she went to Mason's room and talked and cried to him about how much she was going to miss me. Again I confronted her but not until the day that I left; "Mom I love you and Mason more than anything in this world. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity you're allowing me to seize while I can. I'm only going to be gone for six weeks and when I get back it will be like I never left; only it would be like eight months ago that I never left. Everything is going to work out so don't you worry. I'll write whenever I can, promise."

And with those last words to my mother, I gave her a huge hug for reassurance. Approaching my brother for one last hug, I saw a single tear fall from his eye and it was then that I knew that we really had connected in these last weeks. He really did love his little sister and in that instant I wanted to get better for the both of us. I gave him a big hug and whispered in his ear, "You don't have to say it, the tears say it all. I love you too bro." I stepped through security and towards the terminal for my flight, turning around one last time to wave goodbye. In a few hours I'd be well on my way to my new life and I couldn't wait for what lie ahead.


	3. The Dream

Even though this was the first time I had ever been on a plane, I wasn't scared at all. I was excited for the journey I was about to embark on. Somehow I managed to get a window seat that was next to an unoccupied seat so I was able to stretch out a bit once we were up to cruising height. I left my seatbelt on and put the armrest up in the middle and kicked back with my headphones in, eventually falling into a light slumber.

_Dream Sequence:_

_I have no idea where I am, what time it is, or how I got here. All I know is that this isn't where I'm supposed to be. She's not supposed to be here. She's out of my life and I never want to see her again. Why does she keep showing up in my life. I hated what she made me and everything she stood for, yet here she is, darkening the doorway of my room in the place where I'm supposed to be starting my new life that is away from her. _

_ "Evie I hate you and I hate everything you made me become!" I said. She retaliated with a vengeance, "I didn't make you do any of those things Tracey. Everything that happened was you, just trying to find a way out of your poor miserable life!" The worst part about that was that I didn't have anything to go back at her with. I had no way to know that she was wrong or right. I guess it could be true but she doesn't know. The thing I can't figure out though is why the heck she is here. She loves her drugs and her sex so much then she can go back to her little parks in Ojai and sell her acid and fuck her boys, I don't give a damn! Just stay the hell out of my life!_

I awoke to the captain speaking over the intercom, "We will be landing in Denver in about twenty minutes, clear for descent and I need everyone to please report back to their assigned seats and put the seat belts on. Thank you."

That dream scared the shit out of me, seriously! I wanted nothing more than to have actually taken the opportunity to find out who my roommate was back in LA now because the last thing I wanted was for my roomie for the next six weeks to be HER. I mean what are the odds that she'd even care to get her life back on track. She was ten times more fucked up that I ever was. Well except for that one night that I caught her with Javi; that night I was pretty messed up, damn Voodoo Juice. It took me a long time to forgive Javi for that night, even though he swears up and down the Great Wall of China that they never did anything and he never would have done anything with her. Oh well. It's over and done. My only concern now, was making sure that that bitch didn't ruin my only chances of fixing my life and getting back to me again.


	4. The Arrival

**Sorry it's been so long since I updated this story people! I have a little bit of an idea so bear with me!**

I walked out of the gate at the airport and looked for someone holding a sign with my name on it. I felt sort of like one of those celebrities from the movies that have a limo driver holding a sign for them when they arrive at an airport. The difference is that I'm no celebrity, I'm a thirteen year old drug addict trying to recover. How many teens actually have to go to rehab because of "experimenting?" The answer to this question would be the biggest shock of my life.

The driver lead me to a Black Pontiac Sebring in the parking garage and he took my bags and put them in the trunk. We drove for about 20 minutes until we reached a gate with an iron sign above it reading "Mountain Springs." I felt relief in my chest because I had finally arrived; I was finally going to beat this thing.

We pulled up into a cobblestone circle drive in front of a building that strangely resembled the White House. I hopped out of the car and went to the trunk to grab my bags. The driver took my bags and said to me, "Your bags will be in your room, you have to go check in. Go in the front doors and up to the circular desk, tell the girl who you are and she will tell you what you'll have to do next." "Alright thank you very much. Have a great rest of your day."

I walked in the front doors and up to the desk. There was a petite blonde woman, I'd guess to be in her mid to late 20s. She was an overly chipper individual; "Hi you must be Tracey! We've been waiting for you. Now just one more person and everyone is here. Here is your room assignment, class schedule, and work schedule. Orientation meeting and breakfast is tomorrow at 9AM in the main dining hall which is directly behind my desk here. Feel free to look around as you wish. You must be back in your own room by midnight unless given permission for otherwise." "Wow that's a lot to take in at once." I couldn't believe all of this stuff she was giving me to process. "Oh dear I'm so sorry, I've just been saying the same thing all day as your classmates have been arriving. It's almost engraved on my brain. Your room is up the stairs, first door on the left." "Oh it's ok, it's just been a long day for me too. Thank you for all of your help."

I took the folder that she handed me and followed her directions to my room. I walked in and there were two beds, my bags sitting at the end of the bed on the right. I sat down on the bed and opened up the folder. Breakfast was at 9, classes were from 10-1, lunch was 1-2, rest period was from 2-3, work time was from 2-5, and dinner was at 6. There was a note at the bottom of this schedule that read: Evening activities may vary. Organized activities will be announced at a later date and individual activities are at your discretion.

I wanted to walk around and see what all was on the property but I was just too tired. My roommate was not here yet, she must be the other person that wasn't here yet besides me. I unpacked my things into the dresser and closet and put my pictures of my family up on the wall. I was going to miss them a lot. I grabbed up my tooth brush and hair brush and attempted to find the bathroom. I did what I had to do and came back to my room and laid down with my headphones in my ears. I had no intention of falling asleep though; I wanted to know who my roommate was going to be. I didn't want my dream I had on the plane to become a reality. Against my wishes to not sleep, I zonked out and didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning.

**Ok please let me know what you guys think about this. I know it isn't much but it carried on the story a little more. I will try to update again soon. **


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